Publication Ethics

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

• Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their manuscripts are original and have not been published elsewhere. Proper citation and acknowledgment of the work of others are mandatory. All submissions to IJMDS are screened for plagiarism using Turnitin (Licensed).
• Data Integrity and Accuracy: Authors are responsible for presenting accurate, complete, and verifiable data. Any form of data fabrication, falsification, manipulation, or selective reporting is unethical and unacceptable.
• Multiple or Concurrent Submissions: Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal. Submission to IJMDS implies that the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere.
• Authorship and Contributions: Only individuals who have made significant intellectual contributions to the research should be listed as authors. All co-authors must approve the final manuscript and consent to its submission.
• Conflict of Interest Disclosure: Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, or personal relationships that could influence or be perceived to influence the research outcomes or interpretations.
• Acknowledgment of Sources: Authors must appropriately acknowledge all sources that have contributed to their research and cite all relevant publications influencing their work.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

• Confidentiality: Reviewers must treat all manuscripts received for review as confidential documents and must not disclose any information to unauthorized individuals.
• Objectivity and Fairness: Reviews should be conducted objectively and constructively. Reviewers must provide clear, reasoned, and unbiased feedback and avoid personal criticism of authors.
• Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors and inform the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap with other published works.
• Conflict of Interest: Reviewers should decline to review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest arising from personal, academic, financial, or professional relationships.

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

• Publication Decisions: Editors are responsible for making final decisions regarding manuscript publication based on scholarly merit, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s scope.
• Fair Play and Impartiality: Editors must evaluate manuscripts solely on their academic content without discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, political views, or institutional affiliation.
• Confidentiality: Editors and editorial staff must not disclose any information about submitted manuscripts except to those directly involved in the editorial and review process.
• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Editors must not use unpublished material from submitted manuscripts in their own research without written consent from the authors. Editors should recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where conflicts of interest exist.
• Addressing Research Misconduct: Editors are responsible for identifying and preventing the publication of unethical research practices. In cases of suspected plagiarism, data falsification, duplicate publication, or other misconduct, the journal will follow COPE guidelines, which may include corrections, retractions, or other appropriate actions.